Providing a/v at Wisconsin's largest
convention center

United moves into Milwaukee at the new Midwest Airlines Center

Former president George Bush has been there. So has Star Trek's "7 of 9". One week you may pass a governor in the hall, the next a wizard. The people you meet at Milwaukee's new Midwest Airlines Center are anything but dull. As Wisconsin's largest, most technologically advanced convention facility -and best place for people watching- the Midwest Airlines Center has more than proven its worth since it opened in July of 1998. Initially, planners hoped to book seven conventions through the year 2000. In fact, they've made six times that goal, with 42 conventions through the year 2005.

The eye-catching glass and brick building, which covers four city blocks, is run by the Wisconsin Center District, a government body created to build and operate the Midwest Airlines Center, along with the Milwaukee Arena and the Milwaukee Auditorium.

Technologically elite

A walk through the vast hallways of the Midwest Airlines Center is an experience like no other. The walls are covered with a million dollars in public artwork; much of it built directly into the structure. Polka music accompanies your ride down the escalator. You can sit beneath real palm trees in the vestibule. Enter the ballroom and you find yourself in a room so large over 3,100 people can be seated for dinner. (It is the 13th largest ballroom in the country.) But the plush surroundings hide an attraction even more impressive to many of the convention planners who come to the Midwest Airlines Center. The entire building was built with technology in mind, not as an afterthought. It has been called one of the most "technologically elite" convention centers in the world.

"This building is so well designed, it can produce anything the client needs." So says Richard Geyer, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Center District, and the man brought in to oversee the center's construction and operation. Although he's been in the convention center business for some time, Geyer still brings the no-guff attitude of his years as a hockey referee to the operation of the three convention buildings. "Because it's a brand new facility, potential clients are looking to see what you can do. You have to set your standards very high, and then live up to them. If you say you can do more, and fail, word of mouth will kill your reputation." So far, that hasn't been a problem at the Midwest Airlines Center. With fiber optic voice and data connections, video and audioconferencing capabilities from anywhere in the building, its own telephone system, and an absolutely first rate staff, the Midwest Airlines Center has a lot to offer its clients.

United Visual comes on board

Maintaining control was a major concern when center managers decided to go in search of an outside company to offer a/v services to their clients. Director of Event Services Dave Anderson says, "When you bring in a third party, you're somewhat limited by what they're limited by." United Visual used its years of experience in the convention a/v trade to put together a proposal that won the a/v and business center at the Center. "United Visual knows the business," says Anderson. "That's why they were chosen." So far, they haven't reached their limit. "They've received a lot of calls for wild stuff. They've dealt with the Governor's Conference, they've dealt with national campaigns, national conventions, satellite situations. Being the preferred provider, yet not the only provider, still makes United Visual work for the business."